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Sunday, October 23, 2011

Goldilocks-DFE style

Following up the Hanna-Barbera Alice Special, here is another odd special that also was a dream based early entry into TV specials by a famous studio.

Back on April 7, 1970, NBC-TV aired a DePatie-Freleng-Mirisch Films special with superstar crooner Bing Crosby and his family, right down to [as Goldilocks] Mary "She shot J.R.Ewing!" Frances Crosby, bookended by life action, about Thre Three Bears story.
In it, M.F.Crosby, then 11, when listening to Bing tell son Nathaniel a story when wife Kathryn [the boys whose stormy relationship caused that unfortauntel later scandal being of an earlier marriage] is making dinner in tthe trailer, at camp, walksa off and in animation becomes Goldilocks. Going into the house when the three bears, who resemble a certain crooner's family , leave after Bing beats his pal the Bobcat at golf, Goldilocks goes through the famous "this porridge/chair/bed is too hard/soft..just right" routine, and of course our ursine friends return and wake Goldie up only to become her friends where the story is then extended. Goldie goes to show Junior just what bears can do like people, like climb trees [as if bears CAN'T LOL].
Meanwhile. the temperamental bobcat goes off with his animal friends to RALLY against these HUMAN critters! Goldie, Papa, Junior, and Mama Bear hear the mob, also consisting of a deer who is the 'Cat's friend, and Pa has to explain to the cat, eventually driving them away . "Ahhhh.." fusses the fussy bobcat..."people. WHO NEEDS 'EM"! LOL. After this Goldilcoks wkakes up, and now it's back from animation to live action to Mary Frances, and our Bing Crosby family, now ALL human, go camping but.."Somebody's been sleeping in our bed" says Mary Frances...and the O.Henry ending is...<spoiler>the animated Junior [Nathaniel]</spoiler>
CAST
Goldilocks/MARY FRANCES CROSBY
Papa Bear/BING CROSBY
Mama Bear/KATHRYN CROSBY
Junior Bear/NATHANIEL CROSBY
Bobcat/Various Critters/PAUL WINCHELL
Deer/Various Cirtters/AVERY SCHREIBER
Co-Production and Songs by RICHARD & ROBERT SHERMAN
Story by A.J.CAROTHERS
Executive Producers DAVID H.DePATIE and FRIZ FRELENG
Animation Direction LEE MISHKIN and FRIZ FRELENG
Supervisiing DIrection MARC BREAUX
Music Arrangement
DOUG GOODWIN
First broadcast:
April 7, 1970 on NBC-TV
Noting Paul Winchell and the Shermans presence, not to mention Friz Freleng [early experince] and Bing Crosby ["Ichabod"], there was a HUGE Disney connection, explaining why [in DIsney music's first non-Disney licensee] this was a natural for Disneyland records.

[Of course any storybook already made it into Disney records and such before that; there was a Goldilocks LP in 1960.]

Bing wanted quite the high price when in 1969 this went into production and a bit rtoo high, no syndication, so very rarely rerun. I've downloaded this off a blog..the songs are acvtually quite catchy as you'd expect the Shermans's after being with Disney [along the British filom Chitty Chitty Bang Bang] to be. For DFE to really catch fire along with Rankin-Bass, Mendleson-Melendez-Schulz [Peanuts], and some others as chief suppliers of 1970s TV specials, a certain cat in the hat would come splat, just like that, to the tune of comic Allan Sherman.
Read more: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=291352#ixzz1avjuYk3C

PS Sad update: Robert B.Sherman, who wrote the catchy songs for this and so many Disney projects. and Chitty2 Bang2,has died..